Enquirer's 2016 Wish List campaign reflects spirit of Christmas

The turkey’s been served, the shopping has begun and the 2016 holiday season is in full swing.

In Greater Cincinnati, that means the Wish List giving season offers each of us an opportunity to lend a helping hand to families and individuals facing material, health or other needs.

For all we have to be grateful for in the special time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, many of us know persons facing difficulties because of illness, job loss or other setbacks.

This is why The Enquirer each year proudly promotes the annual Wish List fundraising effort in conjunction with the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. We know how caring and giving our readers are, and the Wish List presents each of you with the opportunity to dig down and find it in your hearts to give what you can.

The Wish List is a longstanding tradition here at The Enquirer, where we take pride that it serves as one of the United Way's leading local fundraising efforts. Readers have donated well over $4 million to the Wish List over since 1986. We owe you a debt of gratitude for your support of the effort and of the families whose lives become that much more hopeful because of that.

This year’s Wish List campaign is more special than usual, because it is the 30th we’ve sponsored. It also comes as The Enquirer celebrates its 175th year of publishing and of serving readers in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky.

Beginning later this week, readers of our print edition and of Cincinnati.com will encounter close to a dozen families or individuals beset by need that’s tempered with remarkable hope. You’ll meet parents whose efforts for their children are nothing short of heroic. You’ll meet young people bound and determined to gain an education despite the hurdles life’s thrown their way. And you’ll learn how sometimes the simplest of gifts can help fulfill a wish for a parent with an ill child.

This year, The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com will spread these special stories out across much of December, helping keep the Wish List families in the public’s eye right up to Christmas. We sincerely hope these powerful examples of love and perseverance will move you to share your own generosity, whether it be just a few dollars even.

The United Way serves the nonprofit agencies working with these families, ensuring needed services are available to all who need them. Learn more online at this website: www.uwgc.org/wishlist.

And if you can't find the dollars to give this time around, you can give in other ways. For instance, find a nonprofit organization you can assist through volunteering. One place to look is the United Way's Volunteer Connection at this link: www.uwgc.org/volunteer/ways-to-volunteer

Or, simply share Cincinnati.com's Wish List stories, including this one, on your Facebook or Twitter page to bring them to the attention of more potential helping hands. Doing this will help your own network of family and friends recognize the very real needs in our community -- needs each of us can help address.

Thank you in advance for your support of the Wish List. Stories of families who have made wishes begin later this week. We hope they serve as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas – to love one another.